yes, its quite common with mirena. If you check back on the last couple of pages of this forum you will see that many of us had dizziness or lightheadedness included in our lists of symptoms. to see all the officially known side effects (though there appears to be even more effects than is listed) go to:-

Omg I'm just now finding this post but I have had the MIRENA IUD for about 6 months now & I recently notice that I'm extremely tired fatigue my cycle is so off track I feel so so depressed I think I'm having anxiety problems it seems like my saliva has gotten thicker my hair is so brittle & then around the edges I do have two small children but they don't have me feeling like this & I have noticed that I have like swollen taste buds on the back
Of my tongue they don't hurt but just knowing they are there makes
Me nervous & the dizziness.lighthead,fuzzy memory numb feeling in my head it is really bothering me of there is anyone else out there experiencing this please let me know

Yes, Quin21, all of the above. I feel bloated on top of it and all my joints hurt like if I had arthritis. Sex is not on my list of priorities and when it does happen I feel absolutely nothing. I can't take all this and I am having the device removed after exactly 3 months.
I've seen an NP 3 weeks ago and she told me that these are not side effects. BS. I can't believe how the want to keep women misinformed and have them go through all these side effects.

I have been wanting to get the IUD removed for a while now because of all the side effects I have been experiencing but I do NOT want another baby. I got pregnant on the pill and so far the IUD is working for that, but the side effects are killing me. Does anyone know another kind of birth control that is a affective?

Yes, I started feeling dizzy, lightheaded, nauseous, a little over 3 years after having it in. All the side effects (I had most)I was feeling kept getting worse over time. As soon as I had it removed in April 2007 the lightheadedness, dizziness, nausea, went away immediately and never came back. Some of the other side effects took time, and I am still getting reoccurances of them but they are lessening over time.
I had found a link months ago when I was researching this, I do not know what it is now, but it talked about the hormone levongestral (sp? which is in Mirena) in pill form caused women to become insulin resistant. Some of the side effects from being insulin resistant are the same as some of Mirena's side effects.
You may want to check into this more but give it serious consideration to getting it taken out.

yes you are quite correct, Happiernow, mirena can raise blood glucose levels so is particularly dodgy for anyone with diabetes or at risk of diabetes.

To Katy21 - Anyone having side effects should get it out. although most side effects generally go after a while once it is removed, it can do permanent damage. People have even commited suicide because of the depression it has caused, and others have had their lives ruined and also ruined their chances of ever having any more children anyway, due to perforation of the uterus and other complications of the mirena.

Birth control HAS to be a secondary concern when your health and even your life is at risk. And to be honest, many people also get pregnant while having mirena inside them so it is not 100% effective, nothing is. Every time you have sex, you run a risk of getting pregnant, it's as simple as that. The only effective thing is not to have sex. But if people still want to have sex without health risk, the only safe way is to follow a non-hormonal method of birth control. Your local family planning clinic will be able to discuss all the possiblities with you. Many women on this forum use condoms, others use the "original" method of contraception - getting to know your body and knowing when you ovulate etc so you can work out your safest times of the month - there are books on the subject too, no doubt, from amazon. I use condoms and always have - i only had the mirena for a thickened uterus, not because i wanted or needed contraception. But i would rather live with that, and constant bleeding, than put that chemical back into my body.

I got it out a week ago and my dizziness has almost disappeared. My symptoms were so generic, so hard to diagnose (headaches, nausea, dizziness, joint pain, extreme fatigue), that I had the hardest time deciding to get it out and every doctor I saw tried to persuade me otherwise. It was definitely sold as an almost side effect free form of birth control. I was told that if I could just stick it out three months most of the side effects would disappear, which was not the case, they got worse. It seems to me that the Mirena is simply too untested for them to be making these claims. I saw three or four different doctors and the only diagnosis I got was that I was exhausted from having two young children. Maybe this was a contributing factor, but something else has just not been right this summer.

Someone posted a pdf document the other day that had a lot of detail about the side effects of the IUD and every one of mine, as well as some of the more unusual ones I've read about on this site, were listed. It also stated that 46% of women in their study did not get another Mirena after 5 years. 20% were due to wanting to get pregnant, but the rest were due to health issues. I think that is pretty telling. I also did a search of the hormone in MIrena, levenorgestrol, and saw dizziness as a side effect of birth control containing that hormone. Thanks to everyone who responded with input. It was really helpful.

How are your symptoms? So glad the dizziness is gone. It is so true that the symptoms do get worse. I am glad you trusted your gut. I had mine taken out recently and with each day that passes I feel so much better. I hope that the same will be true for you. My doc said the same thing that my infants were contributing to the extreme fatigue. He could not find anything medically wrong. I knew I felt strange. The OB told me to stick with it and I didn't listen. I got a second opinion and that doctor actually admitted the hormone in Mirena does affect some in a negatice way. She told me the symptoms I was experiencing definitely sounded hormone related and supported my decision to remove. She did it right then and right there. She was the only doctor I know that gave any validation to Mirena causing severe side effects. I wish you well. Take care and hope you continue to feel better.:)

My symptoms are better, thank you. I still have a little stomach pain and dizziness occasionally but they have definitely let up and I feel like my self again. It was an agonizing decision to take it out. The NP who took it out tried to talk me out of it, telling me about the cost of the device, that maybe it was my diet or exhaustion from having kids. I finally just told her to take it out because I had given it so much thought. I couldn't stand to have it in and have another episode of really bad symptoms. I just had to know that it is not something else causing them. THe first period I got after getting the device out was worse than normal, lasting seven days (they used to last about 4) with PMS symptoms throughout. (I hadn't had a period since before I got pregnant with my 10 mo. old) We'll see how my next period goes. Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. It's been really helpful.

hi, I have had mirena in for about3 months and I am so tired, dizzy, and I can hardly get out of bed. I thought it was the zoloft, but that had never done that to me before so my primary dr switched me to effexor. I am still tired. and depressed. I am 99.9% sure it is is the mirena. I feel sleepy all the time and and I am so fed up. does any one else feel weak and loss of energy?

I felt completely exhausted with the IUD. I'm used to being tired (I have two small children), but this was something different, like I had a bug. I also think I did not sleep as well. I would feel tired during the day and then restless at night, like when I was pregnant. My fatigue has seemed to get better since I had it removed a week ago.

Yes the IUD absolutely can cause very debilitating fatigue. You will see a lot of posters on this site list extreme tiredness/fatigue as a symptom. It is also important to tell you that a lot of the posters have had severe mood altering symptoms from this Mirena. I experienced serious fatigue even though my anemia was almost completely gone. I also had severe rage and had a horrible rage episode while on this Mirena not to mention so many other awful symptoms. I have read a lot of women who get severe depression from the hormone in Mirena and it makes them feel like they are not themselves. I felt like I was in a constant fog like my head wouldn't clear. I couldn't think straight and I always felt pressure in my head. I have had the Mirena out for a couple weeks now and now the fatigue, rage, and weird head fuzz are all gone. I think that the proof for me is that when I got this removed I started feeling better. It does take some time for the hormone in Mirena to go completely away for some but it will get better! It is also important to get your blood counts checked since the Mirena also makes most bleed so heavily in the beginning. You may also have some anemia along with the hormone in Mirena causing you to feel fatigued.I hope that you feel better soon. Take care friend:)

I've had the Mirena IUD in for one month and the extreme fatigue I feel is unreal!! About two months ago, I found out my B12 levels were low so I started on weekly injections and was doing great. My energy was back and I wasn't feeling overly lethargic. Then I got the IUD and there are days that I find it hard to even stand up for more than a few minutes.

I see from the messages that some others are feeling exhausted and fatigued. I don't understand it as I am sleeping at night, the whole way through and yet the next day, I feel like I've pulled an all-nighter for a college exam!! Not to mention that if I try to nap, to catch up, I can't!! WTH???

Can the Mirena IUD cause extreme physical fatigue like this? I am fuzzy-brained as well and my mood has definitely changed! I've been calling the way I feel "intolerable", meaning I have zero tolerance for even the slightest bother. My kids have asked me what's wrong and my husband has said that I snap at everything. In fact he told me tonight that he could always tell when it was "that time of the month" and now he says every day is "that time of the month" because of the way I've been.

It's so hard for me to believe that this IUD could be causing all of this trouble!! I even have a Sleep Study Evaluation scheduled for next week because I cannot continue functioning at this level of exhaustion!! I was thinking maybe I have Sleep Apnea or something and I'm not getting good rest. But, after reading some of these posts, I have to wonder if it's the IUD. I'm just starting my 5th week on the IUD. Could I have these symptoms this soon?

If anyone has more to share on the tiredness and fatigue, I would greatly appreciate it!!

The tiredness and fatigue are horrible-right there with you! I could have slept 12 hours and still wanted to go back to bed. and yes, when I did, I usually could not fall back to sleep. :(

Have you been checked for anemia? If your b-12 was low prior to insertion, that could be very relevant. Also, if you have any history of autoimmune disease-there are many- that would also be relevant. One of the things I keep reading is there is usually a "trigger" -often chemical-that starts the problems or causes flare-ups of these illnesses. One of the mechanisms of Mirena is to do just that-it causes an intentional inflammation of the uterus in reaction to a "foreign object". I am pretty sure that I am going through a "flare-up" right now. (judging from the big bald spot on my head, and extreme exhaustion). Most of my hormone related side effects seem to have subsided.

Everything else you are describing are also side effects. My husband is VERY happy to be snipped, lol. My extreme mood swings went away almost immediately when I had it out.

I sweat a lot, I usually never sweat. I do kickboxing and it's a puddle of sweat around me now. I feel hot all the time, like my body is on fire. My legs get very hot and I can't even stand to have clothes on. I'm taking this thing out in a few days and I can't wait to go back to normal. It was a decision to have it in to protect again pregnancy, but honestly I'll take a baby or two instead of my health being damaged forever.